SR 46

Indiana State Road 46 is a road that runs from the western side of Indiana, through Terre Haute, Bloomington and Columbus and continues through to the eastern side of the state where it runs into I-74 and U.S. Route 52 west of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is not a limited access highway and intersects with almost every road that it passes close to.

West of 37/Ellettsville

46 continues west past 37 as a 4-laned highway until it comes to Smith Pike on the outskirts of Ellettsville. After Smith Pike, 46 continues west to the main town of Ellettsville, where westbound traffic is carried one way west on Main Street, and eastbound traffic is carried on Temperance Street. Beyond Ellettsville, SR 46 winds its way west to the county line, and proceeds into Owen County on its way to Terre Haute.

46 extension

In November, 2002 an extension from the intersection of 46 with State Road 37 to the intersection near Smith Pike near Ellettsville was finished and opened to the public. Prior to this, the majority of traffic that wanted to get from Bloomington to Ellettsville and beyond had to leave The Bypass at SR 37, and go north to an off-ramp at Arlington Road, which was State Road 46 at the time. Since Arlington Road is just a two-laned road, increased traffic caused major traffic problems and lead to the development of this extension.

The extension originally only had one new stoplight at the exit to get onto State Road 37 southbound. This light has caused major traffic snarls due to the large number of people turning to go south and the short timer on the light. It causes people going east bound on 46 to be frequently stopped in high traffic. A new traffic light was placed at State Road 46 and the new extension to Curry Pike in preparation for the Northpoint development there.

Since 2002 there has been an increase in traffic on the new 4 lane divided highway, probably due to increased traffic from Owen County.

Just before 46 meets up with Arlington Road near Ellettsville, there are two service driveways that don't go anywhere, this is a popular location for roadside vendors to setup their wares. Flowers, flags and paintings have all been sold from this location on both sides of the highway.

Major roads that intersect

Major car accidents

2006-06-15 - around 6:30pm, stoplight at southbound entrace to State Road 37 - A white pickup truck collided with another car and the truck turned over on its top.

2006-08-08 - around 8:25am, a dump truck leaving the Irving Materials Inc concrete plant struck one of the power lines controlling the traffic lights at the intersection at Kinser Pike and SR 46. Apearently the dump portion of the truck was in the up position. Initially, some power lines were laying across the intersection, but they were cleared later. Police started redirecting traffic for the busy SR 46. Eastbound traffic on 46 was routed around Monroe Street, onto Gourley Pike and then turned right onto Kinser Pike. Westbound traffic on 46 was routed southbound onto College Avenue. The intersection was finally cleared and opened completely at around 3:30pm.

2008-02-14 - around 5:15pm, an SUV about 1/4 mile west of the intersection with SR 37, was on fire on the west-bound shoulder. Smoke was billowing out of its engine.

2008-12-22 - around 4:30pm, a few cars where in a major accident at the intersection of SR 46 and Smith Pike. The two eastbound lanes of 46 had to be diverted onto Smith Pike causing a major traffic holdup on that road. Cars were lined up for almost a mile on Smith Pike around 5pm.

Memorials

Homemade memorials for the following people have been placed on this road:

Other events

Starting on December 15th 2007, the far right traffic light going west at the bridge over SR 37 started flashing rapid green (about 3 times a second). The two right lights are constantly green because there is no reason for them to change. It could have been related to the winter storm Bloomington had that day.

As of the morning of December 27th 2007 (at least) the green light is behaving normally.